Vancouver Canucks winger Jannik Hansen on Thursday joined the parade of NHL players avoiding salary arbitration. On a day Hansen's camp and Canucks management were supposed to exchange briefs ahead of Friday's hearing, the team announced a three-year deal.

Of the 22 arbitration cases scheduled this summer, one has been taken before an arbiter -- and it was a pro forma case, since the Chicago Blackhawks had already decided to walk away from defenseman Chris Campoli.

Jannik Hansen and the Canucks avoid arbitration with a three-year deal. (AP Photo)

Hansen, 25, was a restricted free agent and had gone before an arbiter last summer. He received a one-year, $825,000 deal after that hearing.

Canucks officials told Vancouver media members earlier in the weeks discussions were under way to settle before the hearing.

Hansen became a third-line fixture for the Canucks last season as the team finished with the NHL's best record and reached the Stanley Cup Finals, where it lost to the Boston Bruins.

He had nine goals and 20 assists in 82 regular-season games, finishing plus-13, and nine more points in 25 playoff games with a plus-7.

Hansen has defied the odds by making the NHL -- he was a ninth-round pick in the 2004 Entry Draft. He has 24 goals and 41 assists in 189 games and was named the team's unsung hero after last season. A 6-1, 192-pound right winger, he is a native of Herlev, Denmark.